(see full size image)
The Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Data Management Group (DMG/37) of the Meteorology Group (METG) was held virtually from 22 to 24 November 2022. Participants from Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and ICAO contributed to the following:
- Reviewed the current status of implementation of the ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model (IWXXM) for some OPMET data in accordance to ICAO Annex 3, which is a prerequisite for the implementation of System Wide Information Management (SWIM);
- Currently, OPMET data in IWXXM format is exchanged within the EUR Region by 100% of States noting that more than a third of the States in the EUR Region rely on a translation service provided by their associated Regional OPMET Centre (ROC);
- States relying on this translation service are expected to provide OPMET data in IWXXM format on their own, preferably by source, by November 2023, otherwise they will be considered to be added to the list of Air Navigation Deficiencies in the EUR Region;
- Inter-Regional OPMET Gateways (IROG) London and Singapore successfully exchange OPMET data in IWXXM format making the EUR and APAC Regions the first pair of regions in the world to exchange data in this regard. Other inter-regional coordination is underway with the objective to have OPMET data in IWXXM format available to operators from anywhere in the world in order to take advantage of new SWIM services;
- ROC Moscow now successfully exchanges OPMET data with all the other EUR ROCs, fulfilling the regional OPMET data exchange requirements;
- Agreed to develop proposals to the Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan (VACP) for the EUR/NAT Regions (EUR Doc 019, NAT Doc 006, Part II) to reflect current practices on the routing of volcanic ash advisories;
- Addressed updating EUR Doc 018, EUR OPMET Data Management Handbook, mainly in the context of transferring elements from EUR Doc 033, Guidelines for the Implementation of OPMET Data Exchange using IWXXM in the EUR Region, with the vision of retiring EUR Doc 033 by the end of 2023;
- Other topics discussed included developing the Regional OPMET Data Catalogue (RODC) in the context of automating the METNO Procedure and monitoring of OPMET data; and reviewed SWIM developments from the Meteorology Panel (METP) Working Group on Meteorological Information Exchange (WG-MIE) and other relevant groups and States.
DMG/38 will be held from 21 to 23 March 2023 at the ICAO EUR/NAT Regional Office, Paris.
